1. Field
The present general inventive concept relates to an image forming apparatus including a driving motor and a method of driving the image forming apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Background
In electrophotographic image forming apparatuses, light representing image information is radiated to a photoconductor to form an electrostatic latent image on a surface of the photoconductor, toner is supplied to the electrostatic latent image to develop the electrostatic latent image into a visible toner image, and then the visible toner image is transferred and fixed on a recording medium, thereby printing an image on the recording medium.
An image forming apparatus may include a paper feeding unit, a developing unit, a fixing unit, and one or more driving motors to drive the units. The paper feeding unit feeds a recording medium to the image forming apparatus, and the developing unit transfers an image on the recording medium by using, for example, an electrophotographic process. The fixing unit applies heat and pressure on the image transferred on the recording medium to permanently fix the image.
In order to safely drive the paper feeding unit, the developing unit, and the fixing unit under various conditions, a torque margin needs to be secured by using a motor having a high torque. Increasing only torque increases cost and noise, and the driving motor may have a proper torque margin at a normal temperature and under normal conditions. However, it is difficult to secure a proper torque margin since a load is increased at a low temperature. If a torque margin is inappropriate, a defect may be generated in the driving motor. A method of securing a torque margin by simply adjusting a driving time of the driving motor may be considered. However, in such method, it is difficult to predict a time to drive the driving motor such that a time to drive a photoreceptor of the developing unit may be extended, thereby affecting a lifespan of the developing unit. Also, if a torque margin is not secured due to environmental factors, printing may not be performed due to a recording medium being jammed or the driving motor being stalled.